To say that that weekend was the longest weekend of Ivory's life wasn't an exaggeration.

        And she had many long, long weekends.

        But this topped them all.

        Ivory groaned at the loud din  making their way to her sensitive ears.  She buried her head further into her pillow to block the noise, but it seemed to do nothing for her predicament.  It was only Saturday morning, and she already felt extremely tortured and annoyed.  

        Ivory sat up in her bed, her messy hair falling in front of her face. All she could see was the thick knots making up most of her hair. She flipped it back and slumped out of bed, making her way to long line in front of the bathroom.

        Since she was the last one anyway, she figured she might as well wait in her sort-of-warm bed.  She wrapped her blanket tightly around her shivering shoulders and watched the girls continued nonsense conversations.  Taking the moment of unusual peace, Ivory pulled out her book and eagerly dived in, the rest of the world falling away. 

        She hadn't realized how long she had been reading until she heard Madam Orantia's voice coming from downstairs.

        "Come down for breakfast!" she called.

        Ivory groaned as she forced her eyes away from the pages of her book.  She carefully slid it underneath her bed and quickly ran over to the bathroom.  The girls were all mostly finished, and were just chattering as always.  But then Ivory heard something that forced her attention.

        "Ivory?" a squeaky voice questioned. "She's a book nerd. Can you believe she asked the teacher if there was homework? She's crazy."

        "Totally," another voice replied. "I heard from Samantha that she talks to her books. Can you believe that?"

        "What a freak," the first girl sassed back.

        "I know," an even higher voice continued. "No wonder she hasn't lasted long anywhere. Who would want her?"

        Ivory's breath hitched, and she covered her mouth to keep a sound from escaping.  A tear escaped, slipping down her cheek.

        When she heard the girls starting to leave the bathroom, she quickly hid behind the door and watched them through the darkness.  They continued on with their nonsense conversation as if they had never said those things about that girl within earshot. 

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        The day sulked by slower than a snail crossing a wide road.

        Ivory wasn't sure why she was thinking about snails.

        But she was.

        It was finally approaching dinnertime and all of her chores were finished.  She couldn't help but smile when Madam Orantia gave dish duty to one of the girls who had been gossiping about her.  And the look she had sported was priceless.

        "But I did the dishes last night!" the girl whined. 

        "No, Ivory did," Madam Orantia replied, her stance suggesting how tired she was of these girl's audacity.

        "Isn't it Maddy's turn?" the girl continued with her high pitched voice.

        "She did it last week," Madam Orantia answered. "I keep track of the chores, missy. I know who's turn it is. When it is."

        Ivory watched the girl drag her feet over to the dishes, looking like a snail.

        That's where it had come from! Ivory thought suddenly. The girl had brought snails to her mind!

        Although, the girl was more like a slug in her opinion.

        Ivory shook the thoughts away as she rose from her chair.

        "Don't leave yet, children," Madam Orantia ordered. "Headmaster Frederick  would like a word with you all."

        Just as the words left the woman's mouth, an older man walked into the room.  His hair was peppered with grey, and his eyes matched his tone.  Two dimple marks of many smiles rested on his two cheeks.  He held a cane in his right hand, which he used heavily.  When he saw the children, he sprouted a smile, and the look was infectious.

        "Good day, dear children," the man greeted.

        "Good day, Headmaster Frederick," the orphans recalled. 

        "I have an important matter to discuss with all of you," the headmaster said. "It is concerning the field trip this Monday. A trip to the zoo."

        The children bustled with excitement, but Ivory simply lowered in her seat, making herself more invisible. 

        She didn't really care for going.

        She really didn't want to.

        "Everyone in the orphanage is sponsored, so everyone will be permitted to go," the headmaster continued, his eyes flying around the room. "But I have no problem keeping anyone here if they misbehave."

        The children turned to each other, murmuring senseless words that Ivory couldn't understand.

        But no one turned to whisper to her.

        Not that she minded--she didn't have any friends.  It was understandable.  

        Ivory kept her lips in a straight line as Madam Orantia dismissed them to go to their rooms.  She dragged her feet up the stairs, the other children passing her easily, not even giving her a second glance.  Her eyes drooped, and the information hadn't yet been processed by her complex brain.  She blamed it on the lack of sleep.

        But the next morning, her brain had fully understood what everything the headmaster had said meant.  

        She shot out of bed and stood before the rows of bead in a state of--

        Dizzyness.

        She held her head as all the blood rushed upward.  She stumbled forward, barely making it to the bathroom.  She quickly splashed water on her face and looked through the open door at the time.

        Three thirty, the clock read.

        She groaned at the earliness of the time and slumped back to bed, wrapping herself in her blanket. 

        Wait, she thought. The field trip. 

        Ivory face palmed her pillow and made muffled noises that resembled a dying cat. 

        But then a smile grazed against her pillow as an idea formed in her mind.

        It wouldn't be to hard to get herself in trouble...The easiest way to wiggle herself out of going on that field trip...

        The puzzle pieces connected perfectly in her brain as her plan formed.

        Yes.

        It would work.

        She fell asleep peacefully, thinking about how flawless her plan was.

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A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! Don't forget to vote and comment!! Thank you so, so much for reading!

Ciao,

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